|
| |
|
|
|
Review Summary: Sick of Goodbyes Grandaddy are one of the greatest ever bands…at saying goodbye. All their albums seem to include a double ‘final track’, and in some cases it’s more like a triple set of farewell tunes (‘Ok with My Decay’ into ‘The Warming Sun’ and ‘The Final Push to the Sum’ certainly felt like that on their third album 'Sumday' anyway). Here we have them playing to this ‘strength’ like never before…as 90% of this album sounds like it could function as album closer material. There’s a bittersweet feel, it’s slow paced and smooth, there’s waves upon waves of mellow instrumentation and the overall effect is dreamy. Clearly for some listeners this will be too much and some will bemoan the lack of pace changers and palette cleansers, like the usual indie pop nuggets and punk’y offerings, but that’s just not part of the deal on ‘Blu Wav’.
There is a slight instrumental shift in focus to a more organic, almost country, type of approach; perhaps a little more novelty for Grandaddy, but in reality it makes the material less unique, as a track like ‘You’re Going to Be Fine…’ ends up sounding eerily similar to the defunct Sparklehorse. Strangely the lack of variety or uniqueness barely harms the album (if it’s afforded time to unfold) as the subtle writing still boasts the usual appeal, with cute ideas like imagining a jukebox that follows your ex around playing ‘our songs’ over and over, or the evocative storytelling on the disarmingly touching weepy ‘Ducky….’ that seems to carry more weight each time you spin it.
Fittingly on an album that sounds like a long goodbye the best is saved for last; ‘East Yosemite’ feels like the band’s very own slow motion ‘Twin Peaks Theme’ and is real ‘could hear a pin drop’ magic and definitely makes the best use of pedal steel guitar on the album too. Of course this being Grandaddy they still follow perhaps their ultimate closer…with another one! ‘Nothin’ to Lose’ is more in the mould of their usual set closers and also carries an air of finality with a hint of grandeur in those synth swells.
Most interpretations of the album title have focused on the nods to genre (bluegrass? New wave?) and the fact it plays up to their usual fascination with technology (wav) while not focusing on the fact they’re telling us goodbye…Blu Wav, a blue wave, a sad farewell. You could harbour doubts as if we’re honest both ‘Fambly Cat’ and ‘Last Place’ sounded an awful lot like a band’s ’final album’ and well, they ended up not actually being that, but this one doubles down on that feel and you’d think makes it explicit in that album title. So this is the end my friend, and in that context this is a really well considered and delivered entry in the Grandaddy canon.
| other reviews of this album |
|
Album Rating: 4.0
Know this already got a review but…uh, here’s another one
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
much prefer this to last place - bordering just below a 4
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Agree but I really really loved the last two songs on ‘Last Place’
This is either their third or fourth best album though
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Be funny if this doesn’t end up their last album…because it soooo sounds like a final album
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
yeah, fuck it it's a 4.0
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Nice Sparklehorse reference in the summary :-D
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Good spot ;P
I'm officially calling this their third best Boney
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
I must admit that, while The Sophtware Slump certainly is an impressive album and Lytle has a clear and reasonably unique artistic vision/style/aesthetic, I can't say his work has quite clicked as something I truly love. This one perhaps goes down the smoothest of all the Grandaddy releases I've heard, which is nice as I find some of Lytle's goofier/noisier moments to be irritating, and it sounds really lovely, but something in the songwriting and melodies retains the somewhat amateurish aura that I have a hard time getting over in his other stuff too, and this doesn't have the big highlights of a Sophtware Slump to make me want to invest too much more time in it. But it's very pretty and listenable and doesn't run too long, probably a mid to high 3/5 for me (compared to Sophtware's 4, Freeway's 3.5, and Sumday's 2.5).
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
I'd be surprised someone could dig Sparklehorse and say, Advance Base, and not get into this quite a lot...think this has the legs to be a Boney 3.5 but also I'm not sure I can really sell it too much harder than this review does
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
I'll keep it in rotation for now since there aren't any releases I'm terribly interested in for this week and this works well as background listening, will try to give at least one more closer listen too though if anything I might do better to revisit Sophtware or Freeway - I agree that Lytle would seem to be right down the center for my tastes but as I said above there's something that hasn't quite clicked; more a personal thing than a true judgment of quality.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
If I'm going to put my extra critical hat on, I think the thing that kind of eludes me is the self-deprecating aspect of Lytle's stuff, combined with the sort of "cutesy" music box/lullaby aspect. He's one of those artists (like Linkous and the Advance Base guy) who trades on the absurdity and humor of sadness/depression, but like I said, with Lytle there's this amateurish aspect that doesn't hinder those other artists in the same way, and the lyrics aren't consistently clever or cutting enough to drive home the point. Ironically, probably my favorite lyric of his (also from my favorite song of his) gets at this idea: "I try to sing it funny like Beck / But it's bringing me down."
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Hmm, I like the kind of 'down home everyman staring at the night sky' sort of thing he has going, I like that his stuff is free of judgement in some ways, he communicates through this sympathetic unpretentious lens.
His stuff really isn't conventionally very poetic though you're right.
The little observational stuff is great (the water cooler here, and the jukebox, those pesky inanimate objects) and he can paint these really great pictures (the 'ordinary' apocalypse depicted on 'A Lost Machine' off the last album was stunning, imo no one could have done it better - Beck could never, that's Grandaddy, low key heartbreaking)
| | | Album Rating: 3.8
Killer review Doof, really capture the essence of the album well.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Thanks sunny, I wasn't planning to post it as I'd already read your review here and that did the job well....but then I realised my regular AOTY blurb was getting close to review'ish so put a little bit more in there and voila, might as well.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
So ‘ducky’? The one from ‘The Broken Down Comforter Collection’ cover art?
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
Gonna give this a shot tonight Doofster.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
Possibly the best thing I've heard so far this year. Stunning album.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Fuck yeah Hawks, album is a real return to form
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
Guess I'm gonna have to czech the others. This might be a 5 for me honestly. Been a long time since I've had an album have me so emotionally invested from start to finish. Feels like a very personal album to me. Gonna jam a few more times and see what happens.
Update: Fuck it 5'ing ahrd. This shit hits me right in the feels. Like I said, been a very long time since something has hit me this hard holy fuck.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
I’d say this might be his most personal, so that reaction makes sense - next stop check the last two songs on the last album ‘Last Place’. ‘A Lost Machine’ gets me every time.
Then head to the first two albums, a lot more uptempo songs included but think you’ll still dig.
| | | |
|
| |
